Article 939 of comp.lang.java.security:
I'd like to know if anyone knows how to invoke an applet that calls native 
methods.  I understand that's something that an applet loaded over the network 
can't do but the following excerpt from the given URL makes me wonder if 
there's a way to do this.

Note that the last few lines say that an applet loaded from CLASSPATH has none 
of the restrictions placed on an applet loaded over the network.

I've built a simple applet that calls a native method.  When I run it from the 
CLASSPATH directory using Netscape 3.0, I still get a security violation.  Has 
anyone had any success with this?  


http://java.sun.com:80/books/Series/Tutorial/applet/overview/security.html

What Applets Can and Can't Do 

     This page gives an overview of both the restrictions applets face and the 
special capabilities they have. You'll find more details in the Understanding 
Applet Capabilities and Restrictions lesson. 

     Security Restrictions

          Every browser implements security policies to keep applets from doing 
damage. This section describes the security policies that current browsers 
adhere to. However, the implementation of the security policies differs from 
browser to browser. Also, security policies are subject to change. For example, 
if a browser is developed for use only in trusted environments, then its 
security policies will likely be much more lax than those described here. 

          Current browsers impose the following restrictions on any applet 
that's loaded over the network: 

               An applet can't load libraries or define native methods. 
               It can't ordinarily read or write files on the host that's 
executing it. 
               It can't make network connections except to the host that it 
came from. 
               It can't start any program on the host that's executing it. 
               It can't read certain system properties. 
               Windows that an applet brings up look different than windows 
that an application  brings up. 

          Each browser has a SecurityManager object that implements its 
security policies. When a
          SecurityManager detects a violation, it throws a SecurityException. 
Your applet can catch this SecurityException and react appropriately. 

     Applet Capabilities

          The java.applet package provides an API that gives applets some 
capabilities that applications don't have. For example, applets can play 
sounds, which other programs can't do yet. 

          Here are some other things that applets can do that you might not 
expect: 

               Applets can make network connections to the host they came from.
 
               Applets running within a Web browser can easily cause HTML 
documents to be displayed.
 
               Applets can invoke public methods of other applets on the same 
page.
 
               Applets that are loaded from the local file system (from a 
directory in the user's
               CLASSPATH) have none of the restrictions that applets loaded 
over the network do.
 
               Although most applets stop running once you leave their page, 
they don't have to.


Thank you; Phil